In the past, body restraints have been of a type tht wrap around the patient's body and are provided with straps at waist level which can be secured to a bed or chair. It has been found that a patient by struggling can sometimes can become released from the restraint, or alternately, will slip down into the restraint to a point where the front panel of the restraint can apply dangerous stress to the throat of the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,544 discloses an improved body restraint which more securely restrains a patient and yet is simple to apply. The body restraint of the aforementioned patent includes a body vest composed of a front panel and a pair of overlapping body panels. The lower edge of each back panel is provided with a strap and the strap of each back panel extends transversely across the vest body and is received within a loop or slot in the opposite back panel. The free ends of the straps are adapted to the connected to an outside object, such as the side rails of a bed.
In addition, the body restraint of the aforementioned patent includes a pair of straps which are connected to the free vertical edges of the back panels and the free ends of these straps extend beneath the head of the patient and are adapted to be connected to the top rail of the bed.